Keke Palmer's Gritty '70s Crime Thriller Is Becoming A Netflix Streaming Hit

You never know what's going to be a hit on Netflix, but it seems subscribers are very much up for some 1970s-style, blaxploitation-themed revenge action. "Alice," which slipped under the radar back in 2022, has become a modest hit on Netflix, battling its way onto the lower half of the top 10 most-watched movies stateside and setting itself up to make a run up the charts in the coming days.

The movie stars Keke Palmer, who previously starred in Jordan Peele's acclaimed sci-fi/horror blockbuster "Nope" and forms part of the cast for the upcoming "Spaceballs 2," as the titular enslaved-person-turned badass. The story follows Alice as she escapes from what appears to be a rural Georgia plantation in the 19th-century, only to discover she actually lives in the year 1973. Common's truck driver Frank helps Alice adjust to the shock, introducing her to the decade and informing her about the abolition of slavery in the United States. After absorbing the culture of the '70s and taking cues from Pam Grier in 1973's "Coffy," Alice returns to her former plantation to confront its owner (Jonny Lee Miller).

"Alice" marked the directorial debut of Krystin Ver Linden, who had previously sold several scripts before writing her 2022 crime thriller and stepping up to direct. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2022 before hitting theaters in the United States in March of that year, where it only made a little over $373,000 at the box office. Its reviews weren't exactly ideal, either, but it seems Netflix subscribers are now helping Alice get her revenge.

"Alice" hit Netflix on September 30, 2025, and immediately charted. According to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks viewing data across streaming services, the movie hit number eight on the Netflix top 10 movie list in the United States the day after it was added to the platform. That bodes well for the film's performance going forward, as "Alice" has plenty of time to climb upward as more viewers become aware of its presence on Netflix.

Whether those viewers will come away satisfied remains to be seen, however. "Alice" was nominated for several NAACP Image Awards but there's no escaping its 29% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Indeed, those who reviewed film upon its initial release were mostly unimpressed, with John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter lamenting its "queasy mix of realism and wish-fulfillment" and summarizing Krystin Ver Linden's first directorial effort as an "unpromising debut." Interestingly enough, while RogerEbert.com's Odie Henderson found "Alice" to be "so skittishly afraid to offend that it borders on parody," other critics were disappointed and dismayed to find that the film exploited the very real historical struggles of Black Americans in what Beandrea July of the New York Times called "the most vapid ways possible." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com similarly found the film "more exploitative than empowering."

Still, there were some critics who liked the movie well enough, with Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times writing, "While Ver Linden's ideas never quite coalesce, 'Alice' is at least consistently challenging." If you're up for the challenge, "Alice" is streaming on Netflix right now — and considering "Wrath of the Titans" became a Netflix hit just earlier this year despite its own 26% RT score, "Alice" may yet enjoy continued success as well.